


For Good Luck

by juliafied



Category: Dragon Age II, Dragon Age: Origins, Dragon Age: Origins - Awakening
Genre: Alcohol, Banter, F/M, First Kiss, Holidays, Making Out, Satinalia (Dragon Age)
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-03-08
Updated: 2021-03-08
Packaged: 2021-03-13 19:23:00
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,276
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29905902
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/juliafied/pseuds/juliafied
Summary: It's Satinalia, which calls for mulled wine, which means that the responsibility falls on new recruits like Bethany Hawke to make it. However, the handsome Warden Alistair stumbles into the kitchen, and Satinalia also calls for good luck midnight kisses...
Relationships: Alistair/Bethany Hawke
Comments: 8
Kudos: 5





	For Good Luck

**Author's Note:**

  * For [WardenAri](https://archiveofourown.org/users/WardenAri/gifts).



The scent of mulled wine hung heavy in the air in the kitchens of Vigil’s Keep, and Bethany could feel more than hear the deep rumble of Oghren’s laugh echoing from the mess hall next door. She swung her legs back and forth, enjoying the swishing of her leggings against her dress, as she sat on the high table in the center of the room, watching the steam rise off the wine in the large pot on the stove. The staff had been given the night off for Satinalia, and as the newest recruit, she had been given the task of assisting in their troupe getting even more drunk than they already were.

Bethany herself was feeling the effects of the whisky Commander Howe had pulled out and insisted that everyone do a shot of earlier. She wondered whether her sister was celebrating in kind. Her first Satinalia without her.

The thought was enough to sober her up entirely, something Bethany was not at all interested in doing at the moment.

Instead, she hopped off the table to stir the simmering wine, emptying into the pot the leather pouch of spices that had been kept (under lock and key, apparently) for the occasion. She wondered how much she could have sold them for at the Amaranthine market, had she made off with them. But now it was too late. For both the spices and the making off, she supposed. She’d taken the Joining, felt the Blight in her blood. All that was left was to make the best of it.

At that moment, the best of it, at least in Bethany’s opinion, walked into the kitchen with a clang by the entrance as he knocked a set of copper goblets to the floor. Diving to pick them up, Alistair grinned sheepishly as he put them back on the counter.

“Beth! I was just… looking for some cheese.”

She snorted and kept stirring as she watched him bound up to sit on the table as she had been previously. His cheeks were pink, likely from the same whisky. It was… interesting to see him out of armour, and the light beige sweater he wore clung tightly to his shoulders. His very broad, very nice shoulders.

“As always. I think I saw some cheddar in the icebox,” she said, perhaps more flippantly than she’d intended. He’d been kind to her ever since she had joined the Wardens, and he always smiled more widely when he saw that some joke of his had made her laugh. She’d never tell anyone, but her journal had more entries than were strictly necessary concerning some story Warden Alistair had told.

Despite her gesture to the icebox, Alistair didn’t move, and she could feel his gaze on her as she stirred the wine.

“Need any help?” he asked, and Bethany laughed then, loosened perhaps by the holiday cheer and the alcohol.

“No, thank you. I’m a rather proficient stirrer, you know.”

Alistair laughed his warm, gentle laugh, that always made Bethany feel like she was bathing in a hot spring. _Or perhaps being enveloped in someone’s nice, broad shoulders_ , she thought, and her face grew a little pinker.

“I’ve heard that’s the first thing they teach mages. ‘Bubble, bubble, toil and trouble,’ and all that.”

She smiled and dipped a pinky into the pot. Judging that it had been simmering long enough, she took it off the flame. “Well, count yourself lucky that there won’t be any toads in _this_ soup.”

“I rather hope not,” and now his voice had gotten a little husky, and Bethany was looking at him, into those kind, warm eyes the colour of molasses and just as sweet.

“It’s Satinalia,” she declared suddenly, and Alistair quirked a brow.

“I know. Hence all this,” he said, gesturing around them, at the branches of pine and mistletoe that adorned the tops of the door frames.

Not believing her boldness, Bethany took a step towards him, the fabric of the skirt at her hip almost brushing against his knee.

“They say you’re supposed to kiss someone at midnight on Satinalia. For good luck,” she whispered.

This made Alistair pink all the way to his ears, surely not just from the drink or the heat of the kitchen. He slipped off the table, knee nudging her hip, to stand in front of her. Her head would only barely scrape his chin if she leaned forward, and thus she lifted her gaze to meet his eyes.

“Is that so?” Alistair said, seemingly unperturbed but with a hint of amusement. His knee brushed against her own, and she could feel goosebumps on her neck. “Well, I’m not sure if it’s quite midnight yet, recruit. I could come back later, or…”

“Close enough,” Bethany murmured, and grasped that lovely beige sweater, bringing Alistair’s mouth to her own.

His own hands went to her waist and pulled her towards him, a move that caused her to gasp. His lips were so impossibly soft, and he smelled wonderful, somehow at once like caramel, pine, and freshly-baked bread. Her tongue found his, making her shudder, and he stepped his leg in between hers to pull her even closer. She could feel his firm chest against her breasts, and she thought absently that being held by him really was even better than hearing his laugh. She trailed her hands up his torso to lace her fingers behind his neck, feeling his soft hair at the nape as they kissed.

Much to her dismay, after a while, he withdrew. Breathlessly, they stared at each other for a moment, with Bethany revelling in the slightly mussed appearance of his hair.

“I’ve heard,” he started, eyes heavy-lidded, “that it never hurts to get more than one kiss on Satinalia. For good luck, of course.”

She was more than happy to oblige, and this time he lifted her easily onto the table, pressing himself between her legs, one hand grasping her arse and the other in her hair. She took the opportunity to run her hands down his back and feeling the thrilling broadness of him, his muscular back, the soft curve of his buttocks. She was even so bold as to slip a hand under his sweater, running her fingers against the warm skin underneath. He shuddered in her arms at the touch, and kissed her even harder, before trailing kisses down to her neck, her collarbone.

Suddenly, Bethany stiffened as she heard someone call her name from the next room, followed by the creak of footsteps on the old wooden floorboards. They flew apart, Bethany hopping from the table to adjust her skirt, Alistair pulling down his sweater and running his fingers through his hair. She had the mulled wine spoon in hand just as Sigrun waltzed in, narrowing her eyes at Alistair, who was now only mildly disheveled and leaning against the counter across the room from Bethany.

“C’mon, recruit, it doesn’t take that long to simmer some wine. Unless,” Sigrun said, glancing between them, “I was interrupting something?”

“No!” said Bethany and Alistair at the same time.

Sigrun looked doubtful. “Well, someone’s gotta bring this over to the table, and it won’t be me, so… recruit?”

“I’ll do it,” said Alistair, and gave Bethany a sly grin as his elbow brushed her own to grab the pot. “Happy Satinalia, Beth.”

She took a deep breath, then smiled weakly back at him. Maker’s breath, did that really just happen?

“Happy Satinalia, Alistair.”

There was a bit of a pep in his walk as he followed Sigrun out the door, Bethany noticed. Probably anticipating all of the good luck, she decided.

**Author's Note:**

> This was originally supposed to be a treat for DA Smutquisition, but since it's not Explicit it didn't qualify (lol @ me not reading rules properly). Hope you enjoy regardless! :)


End file.
